Ecodur 201: Water Truck Tank Coating

With oil prices seemingly in recovery mode, maintenance programs for truck fleets are being re-energised as confidence returns and margins improve into the plus side of the oil and gas fracking business, especially in the Marcellus Shake area that covers a large part of Pennsylvania. This region also benefits from having Utica Shale beneath it to provide massive potential for future exploitation.

This case study concerns the maintenance of a fleet of water transfer trucks where a heavy-duty work regime, coupled with a harsh winter environment, pose a variety of serious maintenance issues for the tanks.

Problem
The client wanted downtime for his trucks kept to the absolute minimum without waiting for warmer weather. He also wanted a coating that could not only handle the heavy vibrations and shocks from over the road travel, but also resist the corrosive effects of acids and other chemicals contained in production water.

With the prevailing climatic conditions frequently experiencing freezing temperatures, the coating had to be applicable and curable in such extremes. Expense from housing vehicles for the prepping and spray operation also had to be avoided as it was not an option.

Solution
Ecodur has frequently been applied on surfaces down to minus 20 Centigrade provided the target surface is at a minimum of four degrees above the Dew Point, preventing moisture from being trapped under the coating causing blistering.

It also provides significant elasticity throughout an exceptionally wide range of temperatures and is highly penetrating especially along weld seems which often have small anomalies such as cracks or pits. This ability, coupled with double the adhesion of conventional epoxy coatings, means the Ecodur coating retains its integrity even under the severest stressing experienced by the truck on rough, unmade roads.

A bonus advantage of Ecodur is that is NSF/ANSI 61 rated for use in contact with potable water which means, in this case, it would not in any way add to any chemical burden that might be in the water being transported.

Additionally, Ecodur is free of Volatile Organic Compounds and BPA. 20-year brine tests on this veggie-plastic formulation have continued to show no measurable deterioration. An ongoing abrasion test strip on a public highway has also shown remarkable resistance to vehicular wheel impact and potential wear. Production water can often contain sand particles that can degrade conventional coatings quickly.

Application Results
IGF Specialties prepped to NACE 2 level and duly sprayed Ecodur 201S inside the fleet of tanker trucks one at a time with a coating depth of 30 mils average. At the 24-hour mark, despite freezing temperatures, the coating had fully cured and each truck was released as being ready for immediate use. Many conventional epoxy coatings take up to three days to cure adequately in similar conditions. Many also require solvents at some stage which Ecodur avoids completely. Solvent clean-up and disposal is very expensive.

The client reported complete satisfaction with the coated trucks and the protective coating work continues with additional fleet vehicles.